The Indiana House passed House Bill 1351 in late January by a vote of 73-23, with local representation in Indianapolis voting in favor of the measure.

Indiana District 46 State Representative Bob Heaton (R-Terre Haute) voted in favor of the bill, which would require the Division of Family Resources to establish a statewide program for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) allowing benefits to only be used to obtain food and beverages that have sufficient nutritional value, as determined by the Division of Family Resources. Individuals will also be required to take a written substance abuse subtle screening inventory test to help determine which applicants will be subject to testing.

“My survey shows 81 percent of my constituents feel strongly that people should take a urine test before they receive welfare benefits,” Heaton said. “I’ve talked to people who say they work at ‘X’, ‘Y,’ Z company and they get drug tested twice a year. It’s tough, but now it goes over to the Senate and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

The family and social services office will be required to administer a drug testing program for individuals receiving TANF assistance or assistance on behalf of a child. The program for drug testing is to be established by July 1, 2015. The $1.5 million, two-year pilot program for three Indiana counties to drug test recipients has a projected savings of just $43,000.

“I’m in support of the bill, I voted for it last year and I expect to vote for it again. There were some problems with it last year, and I’m not sure if those have been ironed out, but I think it does provide some benefit because sometimes in some families, parents get this money and don’t use it wisely, they spend it on drugs instead of helping support the children,” Indiana District 37 State Representative Rodric Bray explained. “I think there is some benefit for it and I’m generally in support of it. The one thing people need to understand is that this isn’t going to be a huge splash, only a small percent of the people in the state of Indiana receive TANF benefits and I think an average length of time a family receives benefits is about nine months. Only about 20 percent of the people receiving those benefits, based on this bill, would be tested.”

If an individual tests positive for drug use, they may become ineligible for TANF assistance, and the cost of the drug test will be withheld from any future TANF assistance received, as well as the cost of any subsequent drug tests for the individual.

The bill also calls for at least 50 percent of individuals to be tested, but an individual may not be tested more than once. If someone tests positive, the local county office will provide a list of drug abuse treatment programs. Anyone who tests positive and provides evidence of participation in a drug abuse treatment program shall continue to receive benefits. However, the office is to administer drug tests regularly every 20 to 30 days until the individual tests negative in two consecutive tests.

Of Owen County’s 21,380 residents, 16.3 percent of residents live at or below the federal poverty standards.

In 2011, Owen County had an average of 71 families receiving monthly welfare, while 3,299 received food stamp assistance and 1,420 students received free and reduced lunch in 2013. Across the state, 23,162 families received TANF benefits each month in 2011, or .3 percent of the population.

Also voting in favor of the bill was Indiana District 44 State Representative Jim Baird (RGreencastle).

“There seems to be a lot of interest in doing that from the stand-point that we are doing things to stimulate individuals to pull themselves up by their boot straps and make sure we have good nutrition for children who might be involved with those families,” Baird said. “We also hope to study the reason behind some of those folks not having employment, so we’re making sure those tax dollars go where they’re supposed to be and make sure we’re getting the right food to those individuals.”

In December, U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven struck down a Florida law that had been in effect since July 211, which required parents to undergo and pay for urine tests for illegal drugs when applying for TANF benefits. Baird explained that the two state laws are not the same.

“A portion of this is federal dollars, so you have to be aware of those concerns,” Baird noted. “I think our program is somewhat different from what the Florida program is, so we’d have to compare the details.”